Barrel-head machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJN. FITCH, OF MOOERS, NEW YORK.

BARREL-HEAD MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,261, dated May 18, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN FITCH, of Mooers, in the county of Clinton and State of New York, have invented certain Im-' provements in Machines for Shaping Heads for Casks, Barrels, Tubs, Sac.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure l is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan view of t-he machine, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal section of the disk, detached.

A is the frame of the machine set up on legs or standards of such height as to bring the center of the disks hereinafter named to a proper elevation to be operated by the person attending the machine.

B, B B B" are four heads or stands secured to the top of the frame A and having suitable boxes in their upper ends in which the disk-shafts C, C are placed and operated.

C, C are steel or wrought iron arbors or shafts, on the inner ends of which are secured the disks D, D. The shaft C has journals turned upon it to lit the boxes in the heads B, B, and it is revolved from the pulleys E by any power which may be applied to it. The shaft C has journals t-urned upon it of greater length than the width of the box c, in the heads B B", in which it revolves, for the purpose of allowing it to have a sliding movement endwise for the objects hereinafter named.

D, D are metallic disks of a diameter nearly equal to the diameter of the head to be shaped by the machine, which are secured to the inner ends of the shafts C, C and which hold between them, and revolve the head while it is being operated upon. The central part of the face of the disks is hollowed out-as shown in Fig. B-to allow them to bear upon and support and secure the head near its periphery to keep it from shaking or otherwise moving, and the bearing part of their faces have metallic points upon them to enter the head and hold it securely while being operated upon. The

shaft C has an endwise movement in its boxes suflicient to allow the disks to be separated far enough to permit the stuif for the head to be readily inserted between them, and the heading is held fast between them by pressing the disk D against it, and it against the disk D by moving the shaft C endwise inwardly by the operator pressing downward upon the treadle E which connects with the collar Gr on the outer end of the shaft through the connection H and bent lever I. The shaft C receives its rotary motion from the shaft C when the heading is secured between the disks as named.

J is a friction pulley secured to the shaft C upon which the friction band K-operated by the handle L, connection M and bent lever N-works, to stop the motion of the shaft C (after the belt which drives that shaft has been moved upon a loose pulley) sooner than it would be by its own loss of vmotion when the head that has been operated upon has been finished and it is desired to remove it from the machine.

O isa concave or disked circular saw, working in boxes in the frame P, and having a motion contrary to the movement of the disks D, D, by which the heading is sawed to a circular form of proper diameter. The saw is revolved from a pulley on the shaft which gives motion to the shaft Gby a belt running upon a pulley on the lower end of the shaft to which it is attached. The frame P works endwise in or upon suitable ways to bring the teeth of the saw to operate upon the heading, and it is moved forward by the handle Q, connection R and arm S; the point of the arm acting upon the spring catch a, which catch is released from the arm, to allow the frame to return to its first position when the saw has cut through the thickness of the heading, by the back end of the lever b on the frame moving against the beveled stop c on the ways. The saw is made concave or dishing on its upper side equal to the arc of the periphery of the head to be shaped, and is set in its frame at such angle as to bring its center and the line of its teeth upon a level, or nearly'so, to allow the teeth to cut without producing undue friction. A saw with its teeth upon a plane, bent to the concave above named and secured to the frame P stationary, with its teeth set contrary to the movement of the head being operated upon, may be used instead of the circular saw described if the same should be preferred.

T, T are sliding arbors, moving in suitable bearings, to the inner ends of which are attached the plane stocks U, U. These stocks are provided with cutters shaped to give the proper form and bevel to the periphery` of the head, and are moved against the sides of the periphery by the handle Q, through the lever cl, rod e, levers f, f

dle Q, but the saw completes its work and Y returns to its iir'st position, Vwith its frame, before the cutters in the plane stocks commenced their cut. This is eected by making the movement of the plane stocks the greatest, and its object is to have the saw reduce the head to a circular form before the cutters commence their operation.

V is a swinging platform which is raised upward to a horizontal position at the same time as, and by the movement of the handle Lwhichoperates, the friction brake K, upon which the heading is placed while being secured in the disks as described, to insure its being placed in proper position, and which is swung down, to be out of the way of the head while in motion, at the same y time, and by the same movement that the friction band is released from contact with kthe friction pulley to allow the disks to be revolved. Y Y

rIVhe arbors T, T upon which the plane stocks are placed may be made adjustable in position to or from the shafts C, C to allow for a small variation in the diameter of the heads to be shaped by the machine-V the saw being removed to the same distance at the same timebut I should prefer to have a separate machine for each sized head ment of the shaft C,the platform V is scribed; the platform is then dropped doWn out of the Way and the friction brake or band K is released from the friction pulley, and motion is given to the shaft C to revolve the head; the circular saw is then carried against the heading, by moving the handle Q., to cut the head to a circular form and to proper size (returning again to its first position, as soon as it has accomplished that purpose, through the means described) and the cutters in the plane stocks U, U are, by the same movement of the handle, carried against the sides of the periphery ofthe head to cut it to a proper thickness and bevel. The cutters are then moved back, the friction brake is applied to stop the motion Vof the machine, the disk D is released from contact with the head, and the head, formed and shaped, is taken out and another piece of heading put in its place to be op-v erated upon in the same manner.

The advantages of my improvements are, that by the connected operations of the parts named ya much larger amount of work can be performed by the machine Ythan can be by any other used for the same purpose, as less time is lost by the operator in changingfrom one operation to the other than there is when each of these operations is effected separately, and also in the workV performed by the machine being both accurate and uniform.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is i l. The combination of the frame P and the plane stocks U, U by the movement of vthe handle Q as Vand for the purposes set forth. Y

2. The'combination of the friction band K with the swinging platform V operated at Vone and the same time through the handle L in the mannery and for the purposes "set forth. t

BENJAMIN FITCH.

Witnesses:

FRA'NcIs S. Low, vSIDNEY Low. 

